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Efforts to bring U.S. banks into compliance with international standards have run into an obstacle over the use of ratings agencies to evaluate assets. The use of ratings firms is mandatory under rules of the Basel Committee but prohibited in the U.S. under the Dodd-Frank Act.

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Rates divisions of major banks are seeing the regulatory landscape change quickly, as rules including the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and the U.S. Dodd-Frank Act come into force. Under Basel III, banks will have to hold more capital, which will put additional pressure on rates franchises.

Comptroller of the Currency Thomas Curry said he expects Congress to address the need for several technical corrections to the Dodd-Frank Act this year. It is unlikely that the basic law will undergo any significant changes, he said.

Simon Johnson, former International Monetary Fund chief economist, writes that the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision has erred in easing liquidity requirements. Johnson writes that big banks have too much influence in the regulation writing process.

The Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England is seeking authority to change the amount of capital that banks must hold against derivatives, bonds and real estate assets. "Such an approach might help to tackle threats to stability before they spread, particularly by leaning against exuberance in specific subsectors," according to the committee.

Daniel Tarullo, a Federal Reserve governor, said the central bank has a "goal of congruence" between its work as mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act and international standards by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. A source said Fed officials are drafting rules for major banks that will be aligned with Basel III. Ernest Patrikis, a former general counsel at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said "there will be a sigh of relief" among bankers that the Fed is adhering to the Basel framework.